Julian Assange turned London’s Ecuadorian Embassy into command center, explosive documents reveal 

Extensive surveillance reports and security logs reveal how Julian Assange was able to operate WikiLeaks potentially with Russian assistance from within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, in the months leading up to the 2016 US Presidential election. 

Reports compiled by UC Global, a private Spanish security company which was hired by the Ecuadorian government, and obtained by CNN reveal how Assange may have obtained hacked materials from Russian operatives through couriers delivering them directly to him at the embassy.

This possibility was raised by FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. 

The documents along with Ecuadorian Embassy security logs, authenticated by an Ecuadorian intelligence official, detail questionably timed meetings between Assange and Russian officials close in proximity to explosive WikiLeaks document dumps. 

Extensive surveillance reports and security logs reveal how Julian Assange (left) was able to operate WikiLeaks potentially with Russian assistance from within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (inset), in the months leading up to the 2016 US Presidential election

The documents also detail hardware and internet access upgrades afforded Assange by the Ecuadorian government ahead of the leaked emails from the Democratic National Convention and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. 

WikiLeaks and Assange have consistently reiterated that source of the aforementioned leaks ‘is not the Russian government and it is not a state party,’ in addition to Assange denying that he works for the Kremlin.

Assange, who is currently serving one year in a British prison for skipping bail in London, now awaits a lengthy battle over extradition to the US on charges related to procuring leaked documents from then-US Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning in 2010.  

Before he was yanked from the Embassy in April by British police, Assange had managed to develop a system of special privileges there that gave him authority to designate people who could enter without being searched.

He also had the authority to remove people’s names from the visitors’ log, the surveillance reports show. 

In June of 2016, visitor logs showed that Assange met with Russians and people with ties to the Kremlin at least seven times. 

Two of those meetings were with Russian national named Yana Maximova, in mid-day meetings in the embassy conference room. 

Five of those meetings were with senior staffers from RT, the Kremlin-backed media organization with bureaus around the world. 

Before he was yanked from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (shown) in April by British police, Assange had managed to develop a system of special privileges there that gave him authority to designate people who could enter without being searched. He also had the authority to remove people's names from the visitors' log, the surveillance reports show. In June of 2016, visitor logs showed that Assange met with Russians and people with ties to the Kremlin at least seven times

Before he was yanked from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (shown) in April by British police, Assange had managed to develop a system of special privileges there that gave him authority to designate people who could enter without being searched. He also had the authority to remove people’s names from the visitors’ log, the surveillance reports show. In June of 2016, visitor logs showed that Assange met with Russians and people with ties to the Kremlin at least seven times

Of the RT meetings, two were with the London bureau chief, Nikolay Bogachikhin. Surveillance reports showed Bogachikhin gave Assange a USB during one last-minute encounter with approval from the Ecuadorian ambassador. 

Mueller’s report found that online personas Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks that publicly claimed responsibility for hacking Democratic targets in Spring of 2016 and then  transferred some of those files to WikiLeaks were actually created by hackers from Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the GRU. 

The Mueller report also found that WikiLeaks contacted Russian online personas on July 6, seeking ‘hillary related’ data ‘because the (Democratic National Convention) is approaching and she will solidify bernie supporters behind her after,’ in reference to then-Democratic presidential primary candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders. 

On July 14, 2016, the same day that hackers posing at Guccifer 2.0 sent data to WikiLeaks under the subject ‘big archive,’ Assange met with German hackers Andrew Müller-Maguhn and Bernd Fix at the Ecuadorian Embassy for over four hours. security logs show. 

Mueller’s report had identified Müller-Maguhn as a possible Russian intermediary.

Müller-Maguhn, who showed up as a guest on RT on a show which Assange hosted in 2012, has denied that he ever had possession of the hacked materials that ended up posted on WikiLeaks.  

On July 18 as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Cleveland, a guard at the Ecuadorian Embassy left his post to collect a delivery from a masked man wearing sunglasses and backpack, surveillance images showed. 

The Mueller report found on that same day that Russian hackers were notified by WikiLeaks that files had been received that would be published soon.

More than 20,000 files from the Democratic National Committee were dumped by WikiLeaks on July 22, revealing a preference for Hillary Clinton over Sanders, leading to such turmoil at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Philadelphia that DNC chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, was forced to resign.

The documents along with Ecuadorian Embassy security logs, both obtained by CNN and authenticated by an Ecuadorian intelligence official, detail questionably timed meetings between Assange and Russian officials close in proximity to explosive WikiLeaks document dumps related to former Secretary of State and then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, which then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump applauded. CNN will air more about this story at 6pm Eastern during Wolf Blitzer and 8pm Eastern during Anderson Cooper 360. Clinton and Trump are shown at right during a debate in 2016.

The documents along with Ecuadorian Embassy security logs, both obtained by CNN and authenticated by an Ecuadorian intelligence official, detail questionably timed meetings between Assange and Russian officials close in proximity to explosive WikiLeaks document dumps related to former Secretary of State and then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, which then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump applauded. CNN will air more about this story at 6pm Eastern during Wolf Blitzer and 8pm Eastern during Anderson Cooper 360. Clinton and Trump are shown at right during a debate in 2016.

Five days later, then-Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump said, ‘Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,’ in reference to emails sent through Clinton’s private server that were not recovered during a probe into her handling of confidential communications. 

It was within hours of that statement that Russians first tried to hack into Clinton’s office.

Later, hacker ‘DCLeaks’ which the Mueller report identified as a pseudonym for Russian, contacted WikiLeaks, according to Mueller’s report, and offered additional documents saying ‘you won’t be disappointed, I promise,’ ahead of sending 50,000 emails from the inbox of Podesta.

Mueller estimated that data may have been transferred on September 19, a day wich security logs show Assange met with Müller-Maguhn and guards saw Assange updating computer cables in the Ecuadorian Embassy.  

The Podesta emails began being leaked on October 7 and were published almost each day ahead of the election.

In at least two instances, RT published articles related to new WikiLeaks email batch drops before the site had even released them.

The implication there is that the Kremlin and WikiLeaks were coordinating efforts behind the scenes, which both sides have denied. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk